Go easy on Queensland, Swan told

Federal Labor backbencher
Graham Perrett
has warned that any move by Treasurer
Wayne Swan
to punish the Queensland government for this week’s royalty boost should not leave the state worse off.

“I don’t want anything that causes Queensland to suffer," said Mr Perrett, who holds Labor’s most marginal seat in the state, Moreton.

“So how we do that? Look, I’d need to do a bit more reading and research," he told The Australian Financial Review yesterday.

Mr Perrett joined the attack on Queensland Premier
Campbell Newman
for slashing state public service jobs and effectively putting a break on federal government funding for infrastructure that was aimed at boosting the nation’s weak productivity growth.

But the Queensland backbencher’s comments also underscore the risk for Mr Swan if he takes any action that damages his home state, where the economy is already being battered by the Newman government’s cuts.

The Treasurer last month threatened states that increased their royalties with penalties, including lower revenues from the goods and service tax and for infrastructure projects.

The office of Mr Swan, who has not yet commented on his next move, said the government’s position had not changed.

“We’ve been making massive investments into productivity that pay off in the long term, but [Mr] Newman has sent a torpedo," Mr Perrett said.